South England May Bear Brunt of New Nuclear Plants

 

May 25 - Evening Standard; London (UK)

The South of England could bear the brunt of a push to build a new generation of nuclear power stations, government documents have revealed.

A confidential report recommends building plants at existing or redundant gas and coal power stations, including sites near Brighton, Harwell in Oxfordshire and Bradwell in Essex.

The document, drafted by energy analysts Jackson Consulting for the Department of Trade and Industry, was made public after a request by Greenpeace under the Freedom of Information Act.

It adds that new stations in Wales and Scotland are unlikely to be feasible because devolution means nationalists parties will oppose them.

The burden for the new sites will therefore fall on England, and the South in particular.

The study was submitted to the DTI last year and attempts by Greenpeace to make it public were repeatedly blocked. It was finally disclosed after the Government unveiled its energy White Paper yesterday.

Trade and Industry Secretary Alistair Darling revealed that he would allow only 20 weeks to consult the public on plans to permit a new generation of nuclear plants.

According to the secret report, Sizewell in Essex, Dungeness in Deputy Political Editor

Kent, Winfrith in Dorset and Hinkley Point near Bristol are all earmarked for new nuclear power stations.

But it states that ease of connection to the national electricity grid is the main factor in determining a site's viability, making the South a prime location.

Experts suggest that the best candidate at present is Harwell, a former military site close to Didcot power station.

While most existing reactors are on the coast, the report says it would be possible to build new ones inland, but they wouldrequire vast cooling towers similar to those used by big coalpowered stations such as Didcot. It makes clear that such new plants could devastate house prices in areas that have been earmarked.

"Cooling towers are very large structures which substantially damage the local amenity value from visual intrusion, causing significant difficulties with local public acceptance, as well as adding to the cost of construction," the report says.

It adds that fears about rising sea levels mean that the new plants would have to be engineered to take the problem into account.

Greenpeace director John Sauven said: "Scientists say the speed at which climate change is happening means that some of the sites suggested for new nuclear power stations are threatened by rising sea levels and storm surges.

"The list of preferred sites for new build in this report is a matter of national interest, not just something for civil servants to see. It's scandalous the Government was going to keep this under wraps.

"Meanwhile politicaldevelopments in Scotland have ruled out other sites.

"You have to question where the Government thinks it's going to build these things. Government claims about Russia and the lights going out have the whiff of a dodgy dossier.

They are whipping up fear to push a policy that is patently dishonest."

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